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High winds cause damage, injury in Las Cruces

Sun-News Reports, .
Published 9:19 p.m. MT Nov. 16, 2015

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Las Cruces Police officer Sean Terry wraps caution tape around a clothing rack in front of the Big 5 Sporting Good store on Lohman Avenue on Monday. High winds caused a portion of the sign to break off, hitting a man in the head.(Photo: Robin Zielinski / Sun-News)Buy Photo

LAS CRUCES - A cold front that pushed through the city Monday brought with it dangerously high winds.

Afternoon winds reached hurricane-level speeds in some areas of the county and are being blamed for at least one serious injury.

Gusts at the Las Cruces International Airport — where the weather service keeps automated equipment to measure wind, rain and temperatures — peaked at 58 mph just before 2 p.m. Monday. That was when a strong cold front began moving through the region.

At San Augustin Pass, which crosses the Organ Mountains on U.S. Highway 70, gusts reached 97 mph Monday afternoon, according to the White Sands Missile Range Meteorology Branch. Gusts ranging between 96 mph to 110 mph are considered Category 2 hurricane wind speeds, according to the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.

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A portion of the Big 5 Sporting Goods sign is missing after it fell and hit a man in the head on Monday. The victim was transported to the hospital.(Photo: Robin Zielinski / Sun-News)

High winds broke the Big 5 Sporting Goods sign about 3:30 p.m. A plastic portion of the sign forming the "B" in Big 5 fell about 20 feet onto a customer below.

Steven Gerace, of Artesia, was inside the store, at 3060 E. Lohman Ave., when he heard "a big bang and a crash" outside.

Gerace said he went outside and tended to a man lying on the ground.

Gerace described the man's injury as a "scalping" and said he helped hold the man's forehead in place until emergency officials arrived. Big 5 employees provided "T-shirts off the rack and blankets," according to Gerace.

First responders said the man, who was conscious and talking, would be transported to a hospital. His condition is not known.

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Steven Gerace walks to his motorcycle Monday as a man is tended to by first responders in the background. The man was hit in the head by a portion of the Big 5 Sporting Goods sign. While waiting for first responders to arrive, Gerace said, "I had to hold a flap of his skin on to his head.”(Photo: Robin Zielinski / Sun-News)

Cold weather

Light snow and windy conditions were reported at the airport, the city's official weather reporting station for the National Weather Service, about 4 p.m. By 4:30 p.m. Monday, temperatures had plunged to less than 40 degrees, and with gusts from the west at 48 mph, Las Cruces' wind-chill temperature had dropped to 28 degrees.

Clear skies, with light breezes will return Tuesday and continue through at least the remainder of the week. But, daytime temperatures will remain cool through Thursday. High temperatures will slowly increase, from the mid-50s Tuesday to the mid-60s Friday, before another cold front, from the east, moves into southern New Mexico and far west Texas Saturday and Sunday.

Tuesday's overnight low, of 30 degrees Fahrenheit, should make Tuesday night the coldest this week. Otherwise, lows will vary from the mid-30s to lower 40s from Wednesday night through Sunday night.